Stepping up his poll campaigning in the run-up to the Maharashtra Assembly elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday emphatically said that Article 370 will not be restored even if Congress stalwart and late PM Indira Gandhi comes down from heaven. Before being scrapped by the Central government in 2019, Article 370 granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. 

The former BJP chief and saffron party’s star campaigner sought to corner the Congress over Muslim reservation and accused the main opposition party of deliberately stalling construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya for years. In a bid to boost the poll campaign for the Mahayuti front in Maharashtra, Shah addressed three rallies in a day where he lashed out at the grand old party and its Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ally Shiv Sena (UBT).

While addressing a rally at Dhule in North Maharashtra, the senior BJP leader said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should remember that even if his “fourth generation were to come,” Muslims won’t get reservations meant for Dalits, tribals, and other backward castes.

“A few days ago, Ulemas (Muslim scholars) met the president of the Congress party and said Muslims should be given reservations (in jobs and education). If reservations have to be given to Muslims, then reservations for SCs, STs, and OBCs will have to be cut. Rahul Baba, not only you but even if your four generations were to come, they cannot cut the quota meant for SCs/STs/OBCs and give it to Muslims,” Shah insisted.

The Union minister also made it clear that Article 370 won’t be restored under any circumstances. “Even if Indira Gandhi were to return from heaven, Article 370 won’t be restored,” Shah said during the rally. The elections for the 288-member Maharashtra assembly will be held on November 20, and votes will be counted on November 23.